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Monthly Archives: September 2007
MC Chris roams the country
Rapper, voiceover actor, Adult Swim icon, and pop culture satirist Chris "MC Chris" Ward usually pops up whenever some journalist decides to explore the nerdcore phenomenon for the umpteenth time. But MC Chris doesn’t just rhyme about video games and comic books over hip-hop beats. He also makes punk, pop, and rock, albeit through a rap lens. Perhaps that’s why he’ll be the opener for Pinback, a likable indie-rock band from San Diego, for the first half of October.
After that, the Brooklyn comedian will be on his own, but don’t worry: he’s a hugely successful cult artist who often tours the country without any label support. He doesn’t have a new album out; his most recent joint, Dungeon Master of Ceremonies, dropped last year. You can take comfort in the fact that he’ll probably perform his signature song, the Star Wars homage "Fett’s Vette."
The tour dates are below.
Witchdoctor assembles his “Diary”
Witchdoctor’s return from hip-hop oblivion is one of the great comeback stories of the year. The Atlanta rapper was once a footnote in the Dungeon Family saga, having released a critically-acclaimed debut — 1998’s A S.W.A.T. Healin’ Ritual — that sold wood. But he then recorded a series of mystical, idiosyncratic albums, sold them through his MySpace page, and drew the attention of Williams Street Records, a by-product of Turner Entertainment’s Cartoon Network and cult favorite Adult Swim.
Now, Witchdoctor is dropping a new album, Diary of an American Witchdoctor, that collects prime cuts from his MySpace era. It drops October 9. And he’ll hit college campuses for a brief tour in look of those brain-fried Adult Swim fans. He’ll have some help, including headliner and chief rocker Ghostface Killah and fellow Dungeon Family alum Khujo Goodie (who self-released his Mercury album with Koch Distribution in July).
The track listing for Diary of an American Witchdoctor and the tour dates are below.
Del previews “The 11th Hour” with Devin the Dude
It seemed like it was finally coming. Del the Funky Homosapien’s new album, The 11th Hour, was scheduled for an October 16 release, ending over seven years of silence. Then it was delayed again.
This time, according to an interview with the Smoking Section, the pushback is due to a fomenting arrangement with Definitive Jux which, if all goes to plan, will issue the album early next year in conjunction with Hiero Imperium.
"Looks like I’m possibly fucking with El-P you know for the release of this through Def Jux. I’ve known El-P for a long time," Del told the Smoking Section. "11th Hour is my best work to date. It’s a Del album so don’t expect to be listening to no crazy space shit or none of that shit. If you want that you got to listen to Deltron. This is strictly about me, how I get down, my real world shit and I how I get through it."
In the meantime, Del is giving fans a taste of The 11th Hour during a two-month tour. Joining him on the Serendipity tour is Devin the Dude, the much beloved Houston rapper whose laconic drawl gives Del a run for his money. As usual, Bay Area rapper Bukue One will help move the crowd. Other guests slated to pop up include Hieroglyphics associate A-Plus and, on selected dates, Embedded crews Junk Science and Iller Than Theirs.
Sounds like lots of fun! Check and see if Del’s Serendipity tour is coming through your town by perusing the dates below.
Buck 65 announces “Situation” tour
With the impending release of Situation, it only makes sense that Buck 65 would return to the States for another tour around the U.S. The last time he was here was in the late spring as a supporting act for Sage Francis. Unfortunately, it was a truncated set and, ever the nonconformist, Buck 65 didn’t get to perform cuts from his early classics like Vertex and Square. (Or maybe he did…I don’t know his catalog by heart!) Hopefully he’ll get to "The Centaur" and "Wicked and Weird" this time.
"I’m returning to the land of the free (the great, big USA) for another tour in support the release of the new album, Situation, coming out in that neck of the woods on Sage Francis’ Strange Famous Records on October 30th," writes Buck in a MySpace post. "A few more dates will be added over the next few weeks, so if you don’t see your town, hold tight. As well, I’ll be coming back yet again in the new year and will be visiting towns that I won’t get to make it to this time around."
You can check and see if your city made the cut by viewing the tour dates below.
“Red Gone Wild” parties through America
Redman is finally going to promote his first album in over five years, Red Gone Wild. Overlooked by some and praised by others, the album was a fine return to form for the Funk Doc from Brick City. But kids who go to see him won’t care about that. They’ll want to hear the hits, and he has plenty of them, from "How High" and "Da Rockwilder" to "Time 4 Sum Aksion" and "Blow Ya Mind."
Redman can hold down a stage by himself, but he’ll be taking two fledging acts along with him. Akir, a political-minded MC who has earned plaudits for his 2006 debut Legacy. Released on Immortal Technique’s Viper Records in 2006, Babygrande reissued Legacy last July. Then there’s Kidz in the Hall, a duo featuring Naledge and Double-O. Favorites of the Okayplayer.com crowd, they issued School is My Hustle via Major League Entertainment/Rawkus last fall.
So get to the venue early to see Akir and Kidz in the Hall, and be prepared to scream "Fuck You!" from Red’s "I’ll Bee That" at the top of your lungs. The tour dates are below.
Review: Zeph & Azeem, “Rise Up”
Rise Up is a collaboration between DJ/producer Zeph and MC Azeem, two of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most unheralded talents. Continue reading
Review: Common, “Finding Forever”
Executive produced by Kanye West, Finding Forever continues a hot streak first started on 2005’s Be by “one of Chitown’s gods.” (Editor’s note: This review has been updated.) Continue reading
Review: The Go! Team, “Proof of Youth”
With Proof of Youth, UK squad the Go! Team has made another bubbly adventure that sounds like a high school football pep rally. Continue reading
Review: Baby Elephant, “Turn My Teeth Up!”
Baby Elephant is not a new hip-hop group, but a conceptual homage to P-Funk created by Prince Paul, Newkirk, and legendary keyboardist Bernie Worrell. Continue reading
Smif-N-Wessun returns with “The Album”
Not everyone realizes how popular the Duck Down family is. On the West Coast, heads mostly remember them for the impressive run of albums they generated in the early 90s, just before the jiggy era permanently consigned dusted hip-hop styles to the underground. But on the East Coast, Duck Down is a full-blown cult that’s highly admired for staying true to its core values of uncompromising street rap over more than a decade.
Smif-N-Wessun — also known as Cocoa Brovaz — may be the most popular group of the collective. Tek and Steele have cranked out a series of hits during its career, from its classic debut Dah Shinin to "Super Brooklyn." Their fourth album, The Album, includes cameos from Rock from Heltah Skeltah and Joell Ortiz (on the first single, "Stomp Thru") and beats from Tommy Tee, Ken Ring and others. As previously reported, it arrives amidst a heavy schedule for the mighty Duck Down Enterprises.
The Album drops October 23. The track listing is below.
Alpha Pup fall slate: edIT, Daedelus, Carlos Nino
Alpha Pup, the West Coast indie label and digital reissue company founded by producer Daddy Kev and his fiance Danyell Jariel (pictured above), is prepping a full slate of releases for fall 2007.
Tagged by XLR8R magazine as one of "ten record labels to peep in the months ahead," Alpha Pup’s recent catalog includes Subtitle’s Terrain to Roam and Scream Club’s controversial queer-rap epic Life of a Heartbreaker. In August it issued underrated L.A. producer Omid’s instrumental suite Afterwords 3.
The big title on its schedule, however, is edIT’s Certified Air Raid Material. Once primarily an IDM jock, edIT has been tearing up L.A. nightclubs with his glitchy hip-hop mixes. He brings a similar aesthetic to his second album, collaborating with the Grouch, Abstract Rude, Busdriver, TTC and DJ D-Styles. Certified Air Raid Material drops as a digital release on September 18, and in physical CD form on October 9.
Antipop reunites!
In a recent Pitchforkmedia.com news story, the three members of Antipop Consortium announced that they have reunited.
Antipop Consortium may be one of the most distinctive rap acts of the past decade. Their name, motto — "disturb the equilibrium" — and blend of experimental techno with freestyle raps laid the foundation for the future soul movement that courses through underground music today.
Beans, High Priest, and M. Sayyid banded together as Antipop Consortium in 1997 — with Earl Blaize handling much of the production — and issued several limited-edition mixtapes (some of which were collected in the Japan-only compilation Shopping Carts Crashing) before releasing their debut, 2000’s brilliant Tragic Epilogue. A second album, Arrhythmia, came in 2002 before the trio fractured from intra-band tensions.
Beans went on to drop two well-received solo albums on Warp, and has finished a third album, Thorns, for release next year. High Priest and M. Sayyid pursued careers apart and as a duo, Airborn Audio. High Priest dropped his first solo album, Born Identity, last February.
In the Pitchforkmedia.com story, the group chose not to dwell on Antipop’s initial breakup, which shocked fans at the time. "Everybody’s examined their own individual selves as well as their relationships in the collective, and it’s just about moving forward, not so much about the past," says M. Sayyid.
"It’s about having my friends back. That’s the number one motivation," continues Sayyid. "I can’t stress that enough to the people out there who supported us, how great we feel just being back, putting bars on things. APC represents not always being inside the lines, represents that creative freedom, so that’s another reason why I’m real happy to be back on deck. I’m just really happy to be experimenting and trying new ways to break up flows, to break up productions, having my man Blaize, having Beans in the mix. That gives me an extra push to just kill it."
Posted in News
Tagged Antipop Consortium, Beans, Earl Blaize, High Priest, M. Sayyid
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Lyrics Born prepares new album, tour
Lyrics Born is one of hip-hop’s great showmen, as well as a much-underrated influence on the underground rap scene. His live album, 2006’s Overnight Encore, is sonic proof of his onstage abilities, but it can’t match the real thing.
So take his upcoming tour as a chance to witness a great concert experience. The jaunt — he usually does one a year — prefaces Everywhere At Once, which will only be his second solo album in a 15-year career. Scheduled for February 2008 on Epitaph Records, it’s also his first album since 2004’s Later That Day.
The tour dates are below.
Little Brother waits for “Getback,” tours with Evidence
In a MySpace post, Little Brother figurehead Phonte Coleman announced that his group’s third album, Getback, is being delayed from September 25 to October 23.
"I’m over this shit," writes Coleman in a post titled "Oh well….whatever…..nevermind… (c) Kurt Cobain." "All I ever wanted was for my music to be heard. If it was solely up to me I’d throw up a zshare laink for y’all to download tonight, rather than leave it in the hands of people seemingly hellbent on fucking up what many have called our best and most complete record to date. I never understood how animals could eat their young until now."
Coleman may be getting overemotional, however. Having just announced the album’s release less than two months ago, the slight pushback allows ABB Records more setup time for an album that’s generating positive buzz among those who have heard it. "As an artist, I vow to keep creating, keep recording, and keep releasing new music, but I refuse to keep puttin my energy into Getback when we’re surrounded by lies, half-truths, and incompetence on the label’s end. Why keep nursing a stillborn baby?"
Meanwhile, Coleman has other projects in the can, including an 80s-themed EP with Maryland artist Zo! and the follow-up to his acclaimed Foreign Exchange project with Dutch-born producer Nicolay. His LB partner Big Pooh has another solo album coming next year as well.
But first comes Getback…eventually. The group has announced its first round of tour dates as well, many with Evidence from Dilated Peoples. The track listing and itinerary are below. (October 18 update: The tour itinerary has been updated.)
Daedelus brings new music, concerts
Alfred Darling, better known as Daedelus, has been in the lab for the better part of a year, working on his official Ninja Tune debut, among other projects. This fall, he’ll reveal some of the fruits of his labor as well as a few limited-edition goodies.
First comes Fair Weather Friends, an EP of material that serves as a prelude to the Ninja Tune joint. Due out on October 8, it finds him refining his singing skills over five tracks. Then comes a live album, Live at Low End Theory, that captures a gig performed at the Los Angeles club night. It should land in stores iTunes via Alpha Pup before the end of the year.
There are other bits and pieces, including a track on one of Dublab.com’s infamous limited-edition EPs (Echo Expansion). But the best way to get some Daedelus is in person, since he always takes plenty of rare and unusual merchandise with him on tour. This fall, he’ll head out on the road with Busdriver, who has worked tirelessly to promote his nifty but weird Roadkillovercoat. The dates for the tag team duo are below.
Kanye West trumpets “Graduation”
Yes, I know that I’m extremely late in posting the news about Kanye West’s third album (although, like everyone else, I’ve been writing about it all year.) At this point, a whirlwind of hype and buzz has already enveloped Graduation.
One of the tracks, "Stronger," sits on the Billboard top ten singles chart. Another, "Can’t Tell Me Nothing," gets constant airplay in urban markets. Two more, "Big Brother" and "Barry Bonds," are mixshow favorites. Meanwhile, 50 Cent, perhaps in a bid to pump up his failing fortunes, has announced that his Curtis dud will compete for the number one slot when both discs arrive on September 11. Even lame country singer Kenny Chesney has joined in the fun.
All of this fake noise is to ensure that West’s Graduation actually goes platinum; alarmingly, it would only be the second hip-hop album released this year to do so. Place your bets, Soundscan nerds! The track listing is below.
PB Wolf compiles “2K8”
2K Sports sure likes hip-hop. For the past few years, the video game company has teamed with Decon Records to organize a series of rap-themed projects and promote its latest video games. This year alone, as previously reported, 2K Sports has sponsored a DJ Z-Trip-helmed compilation, All Pro, and an upcoming tour featuring Common and Q-Tip. Now, fan favorite Stones Throw is getting involved, too.
On October 2, Stones Throw will release 2K8: B-Ball Zombie War, an album compiled by the mighty Peanut Butter Wolf himself. It will feature the usual Stones Throw cast members, from the late James "J Dilla" Yancey, MF Doom, Oh No and Madlib’s many guises (Beat Konducta, Quasimoto) to Talib Kweli and Q-Tip. Enticingly, it will also feature the official premiere of Supreme Team, a touted collaboration between Madlib and J Dilla confidante Karriem Riggins.
Stones Throw will promote its latest all-star comp with a label showcase tour featuring PB Wolf, Madlib, J-Rocc and others. Dates for the tour, which takes place at the end of the year, will be announced soon. Meanwhile Percee P, whose long-awaited debut Perseverance drops on September 25, is jumping on the 2K Sports Bounce Tour with Common. (The earlier post with those dates has been updated to reflect Percee’s involvement.)
The track listing for 2K8: B-Ball Zombie War is below.
Review: Panacea, “The Scenic Route”
On The Scenic Route, Washington D.C. group Panacea continues its exploration of lyrical epiphanies over abstract beats. Continue reading